UFC chief Dana White reckons Kevin Holland had a ‘mental breakdown’ during his showdown with Derek Brunson last weekend.
Fan favourite Holland suffered a unanimous decision defeat to veteran Brunson in the main event of UFC Vegas 22.
The Dana White’s Contender Series graduate stunned fight fans by talking to a cageside Khabib Nurmagomedov as he was being manhandled by the resurgent Brunson.
White was left aghast by Holland’s constant talking to Nurmagomedov and Brunson as he was being held up against the cage, so much so he left before the fight as finished.
He told Nurmagomedov: “I can’t watch anymore of this. I’ll see you in the back.”
After the fight, a perplexed White told Yahoo Sports: “I think that was a mental breakdown.
“The only other thing I saw like it was [in boxing] when Lennox Lewis fought that guy [Oliver McCall] who kept his hands at his side and was crying.
“I don’t know what he was doing.
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“I think he might not have been able to handle the pressure and just broke mentally. I haven’t seen anything like that.”
Defeat to Brunson snapped a five-fight win streak for Holland, who is now contemplating a move down to welterweight.
During the post-fight press conference, he said: “Honestly, I’d like to get with a nutritionist, and I’d like to try ‘70.
“Those boys are heavy in there at ‘85. It’s nothing that I can’t deal with.
“It is something when you fight for 25 minutes. You think about that type stuff.
“So if I could try a ‘70 fight, that’d be awesome.”
But Trailblazer doesn’t intend to stop his mid-fight trash talk any time soon, saying on Instagram: “Never going to stop talking.
“If you guys don’t f***ing like it, deuces. I’m gonna be me till I die.
“Never said I wanted to be the champ, I said I wanted to have a good time and that I did.
“On to the next.”
